Posted by JonWhen talking about different elements of proposals, BJ and I often use the phrase “all other things being equal, which proposal would win.” Great proposal teams leave nothing to chance – they want to come out on top at every stage of the evaluator’s thinking, and there is plenty of evidence to show that the margin of victory or defeat in a bid can often be paper-thin.

Back in the summer, Vic and I took Benedict to watch the Red Bull air race in London. It was a truly fabulous day out, as the pilots flew breathtakingly low over the Thames at high speed through a chicane of obstacles. British pilot Paul Bonhomme and American Mike Mangold faced each other in the final round of the British heat; we’ve been following the rest of the series closely ever since as the two duelled for the title.​

When it came to the end of the season:

​…the two arch rivals were so close that they were still even on 47 points each after the final race in Perth. To determine the champion, they had to turn to the rulebook on tie-breakers. But both also had the same number of 2007 wins (3), same number of second places (3), thirds (3), fourths (0) and fifths (1).

It wasn’t until they turned to the next level of tie-breaker – placings in the elimination rounds — that they were able to find a winner. And there both had the same number of firsts in elimination rounds (four). But when second places were tallied up, it was Mangold who was first twice while Bonhomme was first just once.

​That’d be an example of “all other things being equal” in action, then…